The art of the present invention relates to powered garden tilling apparatuses and methods of use in general and more particularly to a powered auger apparatus and method of use which is horizontally moveable through the soil and which allows deep tilling of compacted and hardened soils. The present art method of use allows a user to loosen soil in a wide swath with a single pass to a depth which is well below the depths of conventional horticulture, agriculture, or gardening equipment. The apparatus and method of use is available for small or compact tractors and for a powered carriage or walk behind apparatus and allows a method of use which is easy, quick, and relatively effortless.
As most gardeners are aware, the soil in a garden generally requires tilling prior to planting every year. It is understood within the agricultural and horticultural arts that soils often exhibit hard complexes or compaction, often below a topsoil layer. Compaction due to traffic upon the soil may be found from the topmost surface of the soil. Hard complexes, often named “hardpan”, may be found immediately under a shallow layer of topsoil. Within the agricultural and horticultural arts, it is also well understood that tilling loosens the soil and allows for healthy root growth and desirable drainage. Many horticulturists utilize powered garden or rotary tillers in order to till and loosen the soil prior to planting. Unfortunately, conventional garden tillers utilize rotating heads having tines which have a rotational axis substantially parallel with the surface plane of the soil. The aforesaid conventional tillers cannot effectively penetrate the afore described hard complexes or compacted soil. The tines of the conventional rotary tillers dig into the garden soil until a compaction layer or hardpan is reached and generally will not dig or till to a further depth. Instead, conventional garden or rotary tillers often skim or bounce off of the subsurface compacted or hardpan layers without penetration. This is especially true for soils having a high clay content. The result is in an undisturbed or untilled subsurface layer. Unfortunately, an untilled subsurface layer limits the depth of plant root growth and forces a root formation which is more “pancake” shaped rather than the desirable root “ball” shape. When plant roots are limited in the depth of soil penetration, so is the plant health and the fruit or vegetable producing capacity of the plant.
The present art represents an apparatus and method of use which allows a horticulturist or gardener to quickly and easily penetrate and till soil which is compacted or has a subsurface hardpan. That is, the present art apparatus and method allows garden or agricultural tilling to a depth which is much deeper than conventional powered rotary tilling apparatuses and provides a thorough lifting and mixing action of the soil. The present art apparatus and method of use also allows a thorough mixing of fertilizers, organic material, and/or mulch to a depth which heretofore has been unavailable. Also, the present art apparatus and method of use may be utilized in shallow earth trenching operations necessary for burying wire, cable, tile, or pipe. The present art, due to its compact footprint, is able to maker shorter turns and is especially useful in shorter trenching operations where conventional trenchers are too long or cumbersome.
The present art apparatus relates to garden tilling devices and more particularly to an auger apparatus having a substantially continuous flighting which, as a method of use, is pulled or pushed substantially laterally through the soil, either manually, as a wheeled walk behind apparatus with a self propelled option, or with a tractor (preferably a compact tractor) utilizing the three point or other type of hitch and a power takeoff. The walk behind apparatus may further position the auger at an angle relative to the soil surface, whereby the rotating flighting serves to impart a forward force or self propel the apparatus. Conventional prior art powered auger systems are primarily utilized for post holes and have not anticipated or suggested a design or embodiment capable of movement through soil for tilling purposes. That is, prior art powered augers have not provided an apparatus or method of use to hold the auger substantially or reasonably perpendicular with the soil surface while simultaneously applying a lateral, horizontal, or forward force which pulls or rips the auger through the soil. Control of such large lateral auger forces in a safe and repeatable manner has heretofore been unavailable.
Some prior art has shown non-flighted auger like tilling apparatuses such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,621,697 issued to Webb on Nov. 11, 1986 and US#D244,682 issued to Miner on Jun. 14, 1977. Nevertheless, the apparatuses purposely do not have the substantially continuous flighting of the present art and could not be utilized with the same method of use as the present art since there is no disclosure to the aforesaid flighting necessary to remove the soil from the tilled trench. At best, the aforesaid simply scratch the surface of underlying compacted or hardpan layers. The strength and supports for the rotating shafts of the prior art are also nonexistent which would severely limit the amount lateral force placement and the depth of tilling. Further prior art earth auger systems having an at least partial continuous flighting are directed to post hole digging and not lateral tilling for horticulturalists. These include U.S. Pat. No. 7,210,543 B1 issued to Sumner on May 1, 2007 and represents a traditional post hole digger, U.S. Pat. No. 7,357,399 B1 issued to Klotz on Apr. 15, 2008 and represents a stand for holding a conventional post hole digger, U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,354 issued to Harleman on Apr. 16, 1996 and represents a post hole digger for drilling through rock laden soils, U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,486 issued to Jones on Feb. 25, 1992 and represents a boring auger having a covering housing and a hydraulic mechanism, US #2003/0205395 A1 published by Edwards on Nov. 6, 2003 and represents an auger which rotates left and right and allows greater flexibility in post hole placement, U.S. Pat. No. 4,732,227 issued to Wolf on Mar. 22, 1988 and represents a twin auger apparatus which drills multiple holes for tree planting, U.S. Pat. No. 3,351,141 issued to Fowler on Nov. 7, 1967 which discloses a stabilizer for a post hole digger, U.S. Pat. No. 2,458,241 issued to Beck on Jan. 4, 1949 and represents a hole boring auger for old side belt tractors, U.S. Pat. No. 6,889,779 B2 issued to Skarlupka, I V et al. on May 10, 2005 and discloses a receiver mounted post hole digger for ATV type vehicles, U.S. Pat. No. 6,056,065 issued to Campbell et al. on May 2, 2000 and represents a hand operated hydraulic motorized hole digger which retracts, U.S. Pat. No. 5,396,967 issued to Stewart on Mar. 14, 1995 with disclosure directed to a pivoting frame hole digger, U.S. Pat. No. 4,212,358 issued to Wisbrock on Jun. 15, 1980 and represents an auger which is pivotable in order to drill holes on an angle, U.S. Pat. No. 4,077,480 issued to Carlson et al. on Mar. 7, 1978 and represents a pivoting frame hole digger which counterbalances the drive motor and power source, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,976,147 issued to Cunningham on Aug. 24, 1976 and represents a wheel mounted hole drilling auger in which the auger pivots on bearing brackets 40.
For a preferred embodiment, the present art apparatus comprises an auger, preferably having twin flights, a gear box held via a inner frame and having an output shaft coupled with said auger, and an input shaft for said auger which is coupled with a rotating power source such as an engine or power take off from a tractor. The twin flighting minimizes wobble and vibration of the apparatus when entering the soil. That is, the stability of the apparatus is enhanced. Alternative auger embodiments may utilize a single flighting or more than two flights. Common to all embodiments is a frame or housing of sufficient strength to withstand the lateral or horizontal forces placed upon the auger and capable of retaining bearings in the inner frame with which the auger shaft is mounted and may rotate. A portion of the frame or housing of the present art apparatus which retains the auger also uniquely and safely pivots out of the soil should an obstruction such as a tree root or rock be encountered. Without some type of safety relief, the present art method of use could present the operator with a bent auger shaft or other disconnected drive components which when rotating could present a danger to the operator. The aforesaid present art elements represent only a few of the many reasons that the prior art cannot be utilized with the method of use of the present art.
Also unique to the present art is a trencher attachment which allows the horizontal auger apparatus to perform trenching for below ground pipe, tile, and cable burying. The trencher attachment portion uniquely prevents any soil extracted by the auger from reentering the location from where it was removed, thereby allowing creation of a trench.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a horizontal auger garden tilling apparatus and method of use which allows an operator to easily and quickly till a garden or other type of a soil to a depth which is substantially below a compaction or hardpan layer.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a horizontal auger garden tilling apparatus and method of use which may be utilized to create trenches for burying wire, cable, pipe, tile, building foundations, or other materials.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a horizontal auger garden tilling apparatus and method of use which may be utilized with a walk behind type of carriage or attached with a tractor hitch and power take off.
A yet further object of the present invention is to provide a horizontal auger garden tilling apparatus and method of use which safely pivots out of the soil should an obstruction such as a tree root or rock be encountered without disruption or failure of the power drive line shafts or couplings or injury to the operator.